Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

Flutter Analysis of a 2-DOF system

Abstract:
In lecture, we learned k-method that used for studying flutter phenomenon. In this
homework, we will explain briefly how to develop all needed equations, plot  − V − g
graphs, examine the heave and the pitch of a wing. In the end, we will examine how
frequency ratio and static imbalance will affect flutter.

Given Data:
The wing geometrical and structural data are as follows:
• Half chord: b = 0.5 .

m
• Elastic axis location normalized by b : a = 0.0 .

er as
h

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• Heave-Pitch frequency ratio: = 0.8 .

eH w


o.
• Radius of gyration: r = 0.5 .
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• Mass ratio:  = 100 .
ou urc
Another variable that we need for our calculations and we took from flutter presentation
is x = 0.0 . This is static imbalance or center of gravity variable and we assume for now
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that it is zero, but in future section we will change it as required.

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

K-Method:

In order to use k-method, first we start with initial assumption for k . This is a non-
b
dimensional frequency variable k = , where  is a frequency of bending of the wing,
V
b is half-chord and V is the velocity of the wing.

Guessed k we plug into Theodorsen function to use the real and the imaginary parts of
the results in future calculations. Theodorsen function looks like this:
H ( ) (k ) 1 ( ik )
2

C = F ( k ) + iG ( k ) = ( 2) 1 =
H1 ( k ) + iH 0( ) ( k )  0 ( ik ) + 1 ( ik )
2

m
where H( 2) is Hankel function of a second kind,  is modified Bessel function of the

er as
second kind and  is the order of these functions. For general information, Bessel

co
function is the solution of Bessel’s differential equation: x 2 y + xy + ( x 2 − 2 ) y = 0 .

eH w
o.
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Now we will assemble matrix of non-dimensional oscillatory derivatives using F ( k ) and
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G ( k ) , and it looks like this:

L  Lz + ikLz b ( L + ikL )   z 

  = V   
2
o

M  b ( M z + ikM z ) b ( M  + ikM  )   

2
aC s

A( ik )
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where:
 ak 2  1 
 k2  M z = 2  − − kG  a +  
Lz = 2  − − kG   2  2 
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 2 
 1
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Lz = 2 F M z = 2 F  a + 
 2
 ak 2 1 
L = 2  + F − kG  − a    k2  1 2  1  1  1 
 2 2  M  = 2   + a  + F  a +  − kG  a +  − a  
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 2 8   2  2  2 
1 1  G
L = 2  + F  − a  +   11   1  1  G 1 
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2 2  k M  = 2  −  − a  + F  a +  − a  +  a +  
 22   2  2  k 2 
NOTE: in MatLAB we need to multiply ( Lz + ikLz ) and b ( L + ikL ) by (-1).

The dynamic aeroelasticity equation for flutter analysis with structural damping that we
developed in class looks like this:
 1  
2

M  +  A ( ik )  −
   (1 + ig )  K   q0  = 0
  k 2    
  

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

   2 
1 x   h  0 h0 
where  M  = 
r2 
,  K  =     and q0  =  b
 . For simplicity of the
 x  0  
 0 
 r2  
2
1  
problem, we will indicate  F  =  M  + 2  (
 A ik )  and  =   (1 + ig ) , so now we
 k   
have simple eigenvalues and eigenvectors problem:
( F  −   K )q0  = 0
 1
Eigenvalues will give us the normalized frequency = and the damping
 Re (  )
Im (  )

m
er as
g= , while eigenvectors will give us the heave h0 that normalized by b and the
Re (  )

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eH w
pitch  0 .

o.
In order to plot the  − V − g graphs, the only thing that left to do is to find normalized
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V for X-axis. We will do it like this:
V  V  V 1 1
= = =
b  b  b Re (  ) k
o
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We are ready to handle flutter! 😊

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Homework 4
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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

Solutions and Conclusions:

1. Results of k-method with given data:

m
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co
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o
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We can see that in low velocities the damping for both modes is negative, which means
that the system is stable. When the first mode crosses the parallel axis and the damping
sh is

become positive, this is the flutter velocity. When the second mode touch the parallel
axis, this is the divergence velocity. We can calculate both velocities with the data that
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we extracted from the plot:

VF
= 3.766  VF = 3.766  b
b
VD
= 7.071  VD = 7.071 b
b

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

2. Because of the assumption that the motion is harmonic, so the equations for heave and
for pitch will be:
h = h0eit ,  = 0eit
With a help of Euler’s formula eit = cos (t ) + i sin (t ) , we will be able to plot needed
graphs in MatLAB, but first we need to find the frequency  , the heave amplitude h0 and
the pitch amplitude  0 at flutter velocity. As explained in previous section, these values
we will get from damping graph, when the first mode crosses the parallel axis. The flutter
frequency we will find from the graph from above and the amplitudes from eigenvectors.
The motion of the airfoil:

m
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co
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o
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
We can see that the phase between the heave and the pitch is , both for real and for
2
imaginary parts. We can say it for sure because when the pitch as at maximum or at
minimum the heave is at zero, and when the pitch is at zero the heave is at the maximum
or at the minimum. This is something that we expected to get, because when the pitch
will get bigger it will make the airfoil to go up and when the pitch will get smaller then the
airfoil will go down.
3. Results for analysis for different frequency ratios:

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

m
er as
co
eH w
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o
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h
The range for the frequency ratio that we checked is 0.1   1.5 , a step size is 0.1 and
ed d


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the higher the ratio the lighter the color of the graph.

We didn’t present results when h = 0 , since there are no results for these frequencies,

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because then the stiffness matrix will be irreversible, and we won’t be able to get
eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Physically, this case cannot be possible, because the whole
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model is based on assumption that there is a frequency, otherwise there will be no flutter.
The results are beautiful, but we learn nothing from them, so we will present two graphs
 
in which we divide the range in two ranges: 0.1  h  0.9 and 1.0  h  1.5 .
 

The results:

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

m
er as
co
eH w
o.
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The same as before, the step size is 0.1 and the higher the ratio the lighter the color of
o

the graph.
aC s

First thing that pops into eyes is the divergence speed, it doesn’t change no matter what
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frequency ratio we have.

Second thing, when ratios less then 1 (the left graph), the flutter speed becomes smaller,
which means that flutter phenomenon will happened in lower speeds. For rations greater
ed d

then 1 (the right graph), we don’t have flutter velocity, the damping stays always beneath
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the parallel axis, which means that the system is always stable and there will be no flutter.
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4. Results for analysis for different center of gravity location:

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 Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Aeroelasticity 1 (086241)

m
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As before, the divergence speed doesn’t change, no matter where the center of gravity
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located.
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For negative values of x (the left graph), we can see that the damping is always negative,
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which means that there is no flutter velocity which means that the airfoils is always
steady. For positive values of x (the right graph), we can see that at first the flutter
velocity become smaller, but when we make the center of gravity further, the flutter
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velocity become bigger.

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NOTE: MatLAB code that we wrote for this homework submitted with this report. After a
first run, the code creates three files and saves all needed parameters, so in future runs
it will run faster and only create the plots with no calculations. In order to see results for
different inputs, the user should delete “different_wh_wa.mat” and “different_xa.mat”
files and then run the code, otherwise, it will present the same results as before with
previous inputs.

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